In nuclear reactors it has hitherto been common to store scrap and rejected parts in their present condition in the reactor pool associated with the reactor. The space in many reactor pools has therefore been reduced and compaction has begun to be applied.
It has also been normal practice to carry out repairs direct in the fuel or reactor pool, which has resulted in the water therein being contaminated. Consequently, after completed work, cleaning of large volumes of water and large areas is required.
Swedish patent publication 465 236 discloses a processing vessel for scrapping rejected parts. The vessel is composed of a bottom end plate and a casing which can be mounted on the bottom end plate and consists of one or more detachably connected shell sections, arranged one after the other. Outside the processing vessel there is arranged a sealable shipping container for decomposed scrap. This container is detachably joined to the processing vessel and is arranged to communicate with the interior of the vessel via a sealable sluice opening. The shipping container is connectible to a cleaning plant for cleaning of a medium located in the shipping container. The disadvantage of this device is that a transport flask, in which the scrap is to be stored, is arranged outside the processing vessel whereby the scrap must be moved out to this flask, and this movement out takes place by means of the shipping container. Further, the processing vessel, which is usually made of stainless steel, is large, heavy and,unwieldy, which is annoying particularly during transport and storage. The processing vessel is also difficult to clean since gaps and pockets are formed between the shell sections and since metal chips of the same material as the processing vessel will easily adhere to the surfaces thereof. The processing vessel is also expensive to manufacture.